Fidante Benefits Package

What are the Tax Benefits?

There are three significant tax advantages: Tax Relief on Contributions ➢ Personal contributions attract full income tax relief at your marginal rate. ➢ If you participate in the Salary Exchange option, personal National Insurance savings will also be enjoyed. Tax Free Growth ➢ Any investment growth achieved within the Pension is tax free (excluding any local withholding taxes on any overseas assets). Tax Free Cash Lump Sum at Retirement ➢ When you decide to withdraw benefits, 25% of the accumulated value can be withdrawn tax free (up to a maximum tax free lump sum of £268,275). It is these tax ‘breaks’ that give Pensions compelling advantages over any other form of mainstream investment.

When will membership start?

If you are age 22 or over and earn more than £10,000 you will be automatically enrolled into the Pension Scheme on the 1 st of the month following your commencement of service.

If you are under the age of 22, you will be automatically enrolled on the 1 st of the month following your 22 nd birthday (although it is possible to voluntarily ‘opt - in’ beforehand).

What are the investment options – and how do I instruct fund switches?

• With modern day Workplace Pensions, there has to be a ‘default’ investment fund. Contributions are automatically directed towards this fund (in the absence of any personal investment selections). • The ‘default’ investment option is the Aegon Growth Tracker (Flexible Target) (ARC) Fund. All contributions will be invested in this fund, unless you instruct otherwise. • The ‘Lifestyling part of this fund means that during the initial investment period, a growth -based investment strategy applies (higher equity exposure). A ‘de - risking’ approach automatically starts 6 years from reaching your retirement age (the default retirement age of the Plan is 65). The objective is to gradually reduce equity exposure (and thereby, risk) in the period leading up to retirement. • This default approach assumes that Income Drawdown will be used as the eventual method of pension withdrawal. Based on the profile of the Fidante workforce, this is considered most likely. However, it may not be right for everyone and therefore, you should consider changing to one of the other ‘Lifestyling’ options if you think it more appropriate to your circumstances (please see the default fund guide for details). • Likewise, age 65 has been selected as the default retirement age. This is relevant in terms of when the ‘de - risking’ process starts – one wouldn’t want this to be too early, or too late. If you wish to change your own specified retirement age, you can do it online. • Default funds are designed to be a suitable option for an ‘average’ scheme member. However, we would urge all members to carefully consider their own personal requirements and consider whether the chosen default fund is right based on likely retirement age, strategy and the selected ‘lifestyling’ approach. If not, members need to make alternative investment selections that are better suited – and then keep their selection under review. Alternatively, members should take

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